The feeding of animals wherein a plurality of feed receptacles have to be filled and in particular the feeding of hogs in a farrowing house can be a complicated and time consuming project. A number of complicated structures for carrying feed and the like have been developed but these structures are extremely costly and not suitable for the feeder of a small number of animals and where the feed receptacles may be disposed over a large area; for example, two or three farrowing houses which are spaced apart. Some feeders to cover large areas and even in single farrowing structures have utilized gasoline operated equipment; however, the noise pollution and fire hazard cannot always be tolerated because of the stresses placed on the animal and, of course, the risk taken by the operator.
The use of automatic feeding equipment, such as conveyers to each receptacle is the oversupplying of one receptacle and the undersupplying of another as different animals eat at different rates. As one way of actually determining the quantity of feed required at each receptacle is by actual operation, an attendant is required and the disadvantage of a fully automatic system is apparent. Furthermore, if an animal is not eating or is not in good health, the personal observation of the attendant as feed is supplied can be extremely advantageous.